Electric glass furnace



April 8, 1952 E. LUBATTI 2,591,708

ELECTRIC GLASS FURNACE Filed Aug. 21, 194s 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 @LELE BN @Im ,Z'N VEN 701?,

Apri! 8, 1952 E. LUBATTI 2,591,708

ELECTRIC GLAss FURNACE Filed Aug. 2;, 194e 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Apr. 8, 1952 OFFICE 2,591,708 LEcrRIc GLASS 'FURNACE Eugenio Lubatti, Turin, Italy Application llinguist, 21, 194s, serial No. 45,466 In Italy August 25, 1947 tur'e ofthe furnace and of reducing 'pollution of Vthebatch aswell asbrnany 'other advantages inherentrin electrical appliances used, among which 4being rnentior'red dispensing with storage of fuel and with eduipn'nt for effectuat'ing' combustion.

In Vprior applications, in 'order to 'change from a coal or an oil heating to electrical h a'tin'g it wasnece'ssvary give up the normal type of furnace construction. Conseduently'a quite Vdifferent plant withhcoinlple'x A'and costly apparatuseshave Vto be installed which made stoppage of work for many months necessary, and Jwhich required the work of skilled workers, not -always found amongst workmen of glass factories.

Furthermore in the electrical furnaces known up to now the electrical current, Awhich produces the heating ofthe bath by Joule effect, was led to the molten vbath by' means of velectrodes the form of which differed vfrom Vcase to case, but which were xedly arranged with respect to the furnace. The electrodes necessitated also refractory wall construction of difllcult execution, which does lnot allow easy inspection, repair -work or :replacement of devicessupplying the electric cur- --rc'rlt'to the --furnace bath.` u o l :According to theinventio'n anew device employing quite a different method is proposed, Vwhich has many advantages'of construction, of

'economy -in cost an'dnof convenience of use, as well asparticular advantages Ywhich referto the `working of the furnace.

yMethod and device according to the Yinvention leady to the following advantages: (a)V the electrodes "are movable which supply the current to 'theb'athr (b) the necessary 'electrical equipment is arranged so as to ensure convenientt handling, ease vof transportation and employment of non-skilled 4workers.

(c) normal basin furnaces, may be Afurther used allowing the working thereof alternatively with electrical and with fuel heating.

(d) the construction of furnaces may be simplified for this type of heating.

Generally the device according to the invention comprises one or more sets of electrodes `which lead the current to the molten bath which is heated by means of internal resistance.

In the case of small furnaces a single set vgenerally suffices; in bigger furnaces many sets are provided, each of which is, for instance, of 30 to 100 kw., and which heats an area of the furnace in which it gives rise to the desired temperature, independently of the others.

There is the possibility of a voltage regulation, every set being connected to the network by a multisteps transformer.

The transformer, Ythe switch and other devices further mentioned constitute a set mounted on wheels which carries the electrodes, the form, the disposition and other particulars of which are defined later on.

Having many heating sets of `a relatively small size and of limited power available, is advantageous inasmuch as it allows one to put out of operation or evento withdraw from the furnace for replacement a'set without stoppage 'of the whole furnace.

The 'provision of sets as independent units reduces to a minimum the time required for the installation of such independent sets which are delivered in assembled condition, requiring only a short Vperiod of stoppage of the plant if it previously worked with fuel heating.

Every set carries electrodes which are adjustable, as to the height, in order to dip them more or less inthe molten bath, as well as to move the same horizontally, in order to regulate the approach of the electrodes, or to increase their distance from each other, and so it carries out a Vregulation of the current flowing from each electrede. This way of independent regulation of each electrode is furthermore of advantage as it allows a variation of the temperature from point to point so as to let the technological process to develop in the way required by the particular nature of the batch.

The number of electrodes may vary: from a single electrode (in such case a part of the basin 'acts as a second pole) to two electrodes (monophase current) to three or more electrodes (three-phaseor poly-'phase current) In the prefered Aembodimentswhich follow reference isv made 'to the three-'phase current which is by far the one used most by the glass fa'ctories. I

The control of the electrodes may be carried out by hand or automatically, and by means of the displacements of some of them with reference to the electrode or electrodes with which it shuts the circuit the intensity of current is kept constant, preventing it from varying as a consequence of the changed conductivity of the bath.

The invention is described by way of example,

s but not confined, with reference to the annexed drawings of which:

Fig. 1 showsdiagrammatically in plan view, and partially in section, a furnace with two sets according to the invention,

Fig. 2 shows a side view and transverse section of a furnace with a set according to the invention, I

Fig. 3 shows a partial plan of the furnace of Fig. 2 and a section through the line III- III of said gure,

Fig. 4 shows a side view of an electrode and the v means for the electrical connection, for the cooling and for the thermal insulation, A y

Figs. 5 and 6, similar to Figs. 2 and 3, show a modified embodiment, and so do Figs. 7 and 8, 9 and 10, 11 and 12.

In the drawings I denotes the furnace, containing a molten glass bath 2, heated by means of electrodes 9, 3'; as may be seen from Fig. 4 each electrode comprises a head d, which dips into the bath 2, and is carried by an arm or electrically conductive supporting element 5 a, portion of which near to the head fi is thermically insulated as at E; the arm or supporting element 5 is provided with clamp means for the connection to the cable 'I which supplies the current and through which is passed a cooling fluid (preferably water), which enters at 8 and leaves at 9, as more clearly disclosed in co-pending U. S. patent application Ser. No. 87,018 filed April 12, 1949.

As may be seen from 'the Figs. i, 2 and 3 every heating set employs one or more electrodes Si, directly carried by the unit I9, which is described later on, and generally one or more electrodes 3 placed in the furnace at the sidelopposite to the electrodes 3 and connected to the unit I0 preferably by means of a cable iI which can, by way of example, be led through a tunnel passing under the furnace.

The unit indicated by I0 comprises the whole electrical equipment and in the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings it consists of electric current distributing means in the form of a transformer I2', preferably a multisteps transformer, a switch I3 and, for every electrode, a regulation device Id, and an ammeter I5, all parts being placed on a truck or carriage with wheels I6 which rolls on rails or track I1.

In the embodiment shown on the Figs.,2 and 3 the electrodes 3' are fixedly mounted, While the electrodes 3 can be moved, as indicated by dotted lines in 3 in lengthwise direction of arm 5 by virtue of the fact that the rod or horizontal portion I8 of the supporting element carrying said electrodes :may slide along its own axis.

1n the embodiment according to Figs. 5 and 6 however the movement of the electrodes, which enter the furnace from the ceiling, is obtained by means of a rocking movement about the upper bearing. c

Figs. 7 and 8 indicate the movements of three electrodes which at the same time approach or diverge from a centre O which acts as a starcentre. y

Figs. 9 and 10 show a similar method of movlcure by Letters Patent is:

A furnace for electrically heating molten glass mass in a bath, comprising, in combination, a furnace chamber provided with at least two lateral openings positioned on opposite sides of said chamber above the vlevel of the bath, a pair of electrically conductivesupporting elements each having a substantially horizontal portion extending through a respective one of said openings and a substantially vertical, dependent portion joined to said horizontal portion by a bend, at leastone pair of electrodes of carbonaceous material secured to the lower ends of the dependent portions of said supporting elements, respectively, said velectrodes being adapted to extend below the level o1' said bath, a stationary supportpositioned outside said chamber adjacent A one of :said openings, a carriage including electricalvdSributing means, said carriage being movable if'elativeto said chamber and positioned outside said chamber adjacent the other of said openings, saidsupporting elements having the substantiallylhorizontal porticnsthereof'mounted on said support and on said carriage, respectively, and means'ffor supplying electric current to said supporting elements from said electric current distributing means of said carriage. 'Y

EUGENIO LUBATTI.

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